Frank Levy: Through Innovation, People Will Live Longer and Earn Less

The Next American Economy project brought together 30 experts from various disciplines to envision tomorrow’s economic and political challenges and develop today’s solutions. Their assignment: be bold, and leave the conventional wisdom — and their own opinions — behind. In today’s video, economist Frank Levy foretells tech and health care trends resulting in longer lifespans and lower earning potential.

MIT professor Frank Levy speculates that in the next 25 years, health innovation will improve life spans while tech innovation reduces earning potential for many Americans, resulting in longer lives but no additional income. Add in the increasingly destructive consequences of climate change, and the middle class dream will become further and further out of reach. Triggered by resentment and fear, a new anti-technology movement will rise up with a bumper sticker slogan: “Another Luddite for Jobs.”